Your Daily HG.

My sweet little lady at our family reunion in Cloudcroft. What a charmer she is!

Parade time in tiny Aztec.

So have any of you been to Aztec? I hear it's quite the tourist attraction. We have our very own McDonald's and a Dollar General! Watch out world! ;) When I heard about the little parade on main street (this was back in June!) I couldn't wait to go. My sweet husband humored me and off we went with our sweet HG (the "big" kids were with Grandma that day). 

Here is Gracie, sharing in my excitement...

I mean really, how cute is this?!

Can you see the joy shining in my face?

"Miah, Miah! Take more pictures!" she would yell.

Oh heavens. How adorable is THIS?!

This picture makes me laugh!

I'm glad Mo wasn't here at this moment.. pretty sure he would have been yelling something about a "chollo wagon". I kid you not. 

This was so, so silly.

What a fun, fun morning! Oh! And did you know the "floats" throw candy?! I'm bringing a bag next year! :)

She's mobile!

We came home from swimming, got out the (blasted!) bucket o' beans and then...

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A South African Story.

I don't remember the city I was in, the name of the hospital, or even what the hospital looked like from the outside. Here is what I do remember. Babies laying in their beds and when I went to pick one of them up they were soaked in their own urine. No one to tend them, no mama's to fuss over them. I went to the nurse and got new sheets and clothes and warm water and bathed them and cleaned them. I snuggled and read to them. My heart was broken, but then -but then - we went into the next room. These little children laying on cots. A breeze blew in the windows and their frail little selves barley stirred. When I sat down next to one of the little girls she moaned. Blood was dripping from her IV's. She had been abused. She had AIDS. She was dying alone. There I sat wondering what on earth I could do here. Just sitting next to her caused her pain. She didn't want to be touched. So I just sat, and cried and prayed. 

These stores - these little lives - they touched my heart in a way I can't describe. They changed me. When I change my babies sheets I remember the blood stained sheets of the little girl in South Africa and think of how I can help my babies to see the worlds outside their windows more clearly. I think it's done bit by bit and day by day in both big ways and small.. but it begins with their mama remembering.  

I read this post today and one thing she said really stuck with me: We’re either responding with indifference or with intercession, either with apathy or aid.

I'm praying I remember what I have seen, that I am aware of what is going on the world today, and that I am willing to be used in big and small ways to make a difference. Pray? Yes. Give? Yes. Encourage others to do the same? Absolutely. 

Cousin fun!

HG stealing everyone's sippy cups, hungry Moses, posing Sarah  and sweet Kiera and Ryder.
Good times.

Sarah is 2!

So she may have turned two a month ago today, but it still deserves to be documented!

Sarah at two:

Her nicknames are Bobo, Seh, Bozal.

Her favorite food is 'pasta'.

Her favorite toy is 'mousie mouse' (Minnie Mouse)

She loves to pick strawberries in the garden, to sing, and to do everything LOUDLY!

Happy birthday sweet girl!

Another DIY: Making your own baby formula

This is something I never brought up here. Many of you will remember when my sweet Sarah had reflux (here and here). As a result she wasn't eating well, and at one of her check ups I realized she just wasn't gaining weight. As I worked with a wonderful lactation consultant to correct the problem, I found out I was pregnant with Hannah Grace (Sarah was 5 months at the time). Well, my milk supply went way down and I was left trying to get a baby who had never had a bottle to take one. Breast milk and formula are about as different as can be. Breast milk is naturally sweet, formula is, well, gross. Sarah wanted nothing to do with the stuff and honestly I couldn't blame her. This was also around the time that Similac did their big recall. I started looking for alternatives. I figured rice milk was as close in taste as I could get to breast milk so I put the some in a bottle and tried and tried and tried to get her to take it. One day she just got it, and much to my relief she drank the whole 8oz bottle (things were getting a little dire - my milk was almost completely gone and I needed to get her hydrated). From there I worked with my lovely pediatrician to find a formula that works. Several of you have asked for the recipe, so here it is!


Recipe for Baby Formula
4 cups Original Rice Dream (fortified with calcium, etc)
1 T. - Black Strap Molasses (this is important for iron!)
1 T. - Liquid Acidophilus
1 T. - Flax Seed Oil
1 t. - Liquid Vitamin C
1 t. - Liquid CalMag (calcium & magnesium)
16 drops - Trace Minerals (concentrated)
1 t. - Infant Vitamins (optional)


I put all the ingredients into a pitcher stirred like crazy (a blender would work for this), then poured it into bottles and stored in the fridge. This makes about four 8oz bottles. 

• I was able to find all of the ingredients at Vitamin Cottage. 
• To make it even more cost effective I occasionally made my own rice milk, however, I liked that I could buy fortified Rice Dream (original, not vanilla!) for even more nutrition. 
• I started by giving Sarah mostly rice milk and then slowly increasing the amount of vitamins and minerals I added. She loved it, and I felt good knowing exactly what was in her formula.
• You can use goats milk or oats milk, as well. Keep in mind some babies are allergic to rice! However, no soy or almond milk. 
• The initial investment is high, but the ingredients (except the Rice Dream) do last a long time. 

***I think this goes without saying, but check with your pediatrician to make sure this is right for your baby.***